School canteens struggling to survive

The organisation representing school canteens across the ACT may be forced to close next month because of a lack of volunteers.

There has been a sharp fall in the number of school-run canteens in Canberra, with 19 closing in recent years.

There are about 50 canteens left operating, some only one day a week.

ACT School Canteen Association president Debbie Tobin says increased regulations, a drop in volunteers and financial pressures are taking their toll.

"Canteens are closing. There has been a lot more pressure put on canteens to run in a different model," she said.

The association has been supporting school communities for 25 years.

But Ms Tobin says they cannot find enough people to run the committee.

"What it basically means is that we now don't have anyone representing just the canteen managers themselves," Ms Tobin said.

"If they have an issue there's nowhere to go, to keep them informed of wages. This will now fall back on P&Cs and on the school themselves to find this out. If I have a problem I don't have anywhere to go."

Ms Tobin says the association will close if more canteen managers do not put their hands up to run the committee on March 20.

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